Review of Hattie Vavaseur

[Izzy Kruger]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Hattie Vavaseur" by M. Rebecca Wildsmith.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Hattie Vavaseur is quite a bizarre book. Taking place in the late 1920’s it is partly a murder mystery, in parts romance with a thread of the supernatural keeping it all connected throughout. In short, it is a smorgasbord of different genres. The main protagonist, Ms Vavaseur, starts the novel with a strange sort of patchy amnesia that leaves the reader about as confused as she is. With the help of new and old friends, some alive and some already departed, she searches for her memories and long-lost love. The rest you will have to find out for yourself since if I divulge any more details, I will be labelled a “spoiler”.

The story is interesting enough to make up for the slight confusion of the first few chapters. Once you start understanding where the story is going and slowly piecing together Hattie’s life story, the book grasps you and doesn’t let you go. The character descriptions are vivid, and their persona’s so quirky that you immediately feel that you want to invite them over for dinner, or a séance, whichever you fancy. And the vivacious Hattie shares her spitfire tenacity so eagerly you can’t help falling in love with her. What could easily have been a sombre story is told in a humorous style with a witty take on the afterlife.

The author, M. Rebecca Wildsmith, used a lot of superfluous and sometimes inapplicable adjectives in trying to make the speech and writing style authentic to the period. Think Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie. This made for difficult reading at times. But the overall editing wasn’t bad, and the story is fast-paced enough that the reader won’t linger too long on the language speedbumps. Sometimes it reminded me of someone who learned a new and exciting word but didn’t quite understand the context in which to use it.

I give this book 4 out of 4 stars. Even though I found a few language and editing errors, they numbered less than 10, and their presence didn’t excessively impede my enjoyment of the story.

It is a good read for lovers of murder mystery stories with an element of the supernatural and people who like their romance novels with diabetes-inducing levels of oozing sweetness. There is no course language or sexual content, so it is safe for younger readers. Please pick it up on a rainy day and enjoy it with a cup of tea and a spinning cat on your lap.

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Hattie Vavaseur
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